A Thousand More
by PolkaMusic
Summary: Rane future fic based on the movie The Vow. Reed and Shane are happily living together in New York. When a car crash leaves Reed without one memory of this mysterious man he supposedly fell in love with, Shane has to make him fall all over again. CP Coulter's Daltonverse.
1. Eight Years

**Aloha. So back in the day (about February I think) I saw the Vow and of course being me, I wanted to write a Rane story based on it. Well I saw it again not too long ago and thought "why the fuck didn't I write that?" so now I have. **

**I'm gonna try to finish this as soon as possible seeing as I didn't write down what I planned, I just want to get it out before I forget. But then again, this is me we're talking about.**

**Nonetheless I hope you enjoy~**

* * *

Reed loved Shane, he really did. They'd had a solid relationship since the beginning and now nearly eight years later, nothing had changed except the scenery. Ohio and Dalton were in the past and New York and their shared apartment of two years was the present. But it was times like this that made him wonder exactly why he loved this idiot so much.

"Shane," Reed grimaced, fidgeting his hands. "This is a very bad idea."

Shane huffed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Don't be silly, Reed. You'll do fine. Besides, I really think you should learn, you might need it someday. What happens if you're stranded somewhere?"

Reed shrugged, hoping if he looked confident in what he said Shane might lose interest and drop the subject. "I'll call you."

"And what if I'm out of town, or out of cell range?" He ignored Reed's whisper of "payphone" and kept talking. "Or you're somewhere dangerous? Or it's an emergency and you need to get somewhere?"

"Shane, this is New York. It's full of cabs, I don't need to drive."

Shane ignored that, too. He turned serious, staring Reed down with an unwavering expression. "Look it would really just make me feel a lot better if you could. There could be so many instances where you need it. Besides you don't know what kind of people could be driving those cabs. All it takes is one psychopath and you're dead."

Reed's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "You cannot be serious."

"So I suppose you'll need your own car, too," Shane continued on without acknowledging Reed's remark. "You can always drive mine but that doesn't really help in an emergency situation…"

Reed sighed, shaking his head and wondering how long it would take Shane to notice if he just started to walk away in the opposite direction. He had absolutely no desire to learn how to drive; he never did. He could hardly walk properly, who would be crazy enough to trust him with heavy machinery?

Shane apparently, as he was now tossing Reed the keys and getting into the passenger seat of his car. Reed briefly considered running away again before he caught a glimpse of Shane's adorably hopeful expression through the window. He suppressed a groan as he gave in and climbed into the car. Maybe if Shane was so ready to believe he could do this, he might actually be able to.

But he was still feeling terribly nervous, and he couldn't help but retreat back to his previous thought. This wasn't a very good idea.

Over an hour later Shane couldn't stop smiling. "I told you you could do it!"

Reed on the other hand, couldn't stop shaking. He never wanted to drive through New York again. "If we're going to do this then shouldn't we go somewhere um… deserted? With no one around I could hit and or kill."

Shane laughed a little, earning a glare from Reed who looked completely serious. "It's not funny!"

"Reed, relax. You are not going to kill anyone. You're doing fine, perfectly even."

Now Reed wanted to laugh. He wondered if Shane remembered all five times he slammed on the breaks so hard if nearly sent the dancer through the dashboard. Shane exaggerated far too much for his behalf.

"You're delusion," he muttered, turning his focus back toward the red light they were stopped at. "When can we go back?"

"Not yet." When Reed started grumbling in protest, he spoke up again. "Reed, honey, nothing is going to happen."

Reed huffed silently, but Shane sounded so sure he almost believed him. Almost. A dreaded feeling was knotting up his stomach and it was hard to ignore.

Shane continued easily talking just as the light turned green. "You might be a walking disaster but that doesn't mean you have to be a driving one." He was putting so much faith in Reed learning to drive not only because he truly believed he could, but because he needed him to be able to. Like he said earlier, anything could happen and he needed the peace of mind that Reed would be able to go where he needed on his own, to take care of himself.

Unfortunately, because of that last comment, Reed's head snapped towards him, ready to defend himself, right at the moment he pulled out. And all would have been fine if not for the truck coming from the left side of the intersection, appearing to be running their red light.

Reed's mouth had just opened to object when Shane finally registered what was about to happen. He screamed, cutting off anything Reed was going to say.

"Reed!"

He could barely comprehend Reed's look of confusion before he turned to look towards his window. It all happened in less than five seconds, and before Reed could even see what Shane was still screaming about, the truck collided with the side of their car. Reed's side.

Shane's screaming stopped and the only thing he could hear was the crash of clashing metal and the shattering of glass. He could feel a burning sting in his left arm, the throbbing smack of his head against his own window, the jerk of his body. But in the haze of everything that was happening, in midst of all the pain, the thing that alarmed him the most was that he couldn't hear a thing from Reed. No screams, no yelps, not even a whimper.

The next thing he could hear as he slipped in and out of consciousness was the blaring of sirens and people shouting. He could feel hands on him, pulling him from the car and onto something soft.

The last thing he could recall was the sirens getting louder.

* * *

Shane had heard the term 'splitting headache' before, but he never really knew what it meant until now.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered, bringing a heavy hand up to gingerly touch his pounding head.

Suddenly he felt arms nearly crush him before he even had the chance to open his eyes.

"Shane! Thank god! How do you feel?"

"I would feel a lot better if you weren't squishing me," Shane snapped, opening one eye slowly to see his brother's frantic face hovering over him.

Blaine's exhale of relief was mixed with a light laugh. "I'm just happy you're awake. It's been hours."

Shane found the brightness of the room didn't really help the headache issue. His eyes were closed again, and he was pondering going back to sleep when he mumbled, "Since what?"

Blaine frowned. "Don't you remember?" Shane made a noncommittal hum so Blaine caught his lip between his teeth, not sure how to explain. "You were in a crash. Thankfully you weren't hurt too badly, you'll probably be sore and have a killer headache, but other than that the only thing you've got is stiches. So all considering you're pretty lucky."

Shane's eyes were now wide open. He was barely listening to what Blaine was saying after the word crash. He could hear the glass breaking all over again as everything flooded back. Reed driving and –Reed driving.

"Reed!" Shane shot up, ignoring his body's flash of painful protest. He stared at Blaine, noticing he suddenly looked regretful. "Whereishe? Isheokay? Whathappened?"

Blaine was watching him with pity now, which Shane didn't like whatsoever. "Shane, listen –"

Shane was shouting now, "What happened to him!" Panic was pulsing through his veins. He willed Blaine to say something good, something that would give him a shred of hope to compete with overwhelming terror.

"He's alive…" Blaine was speaking quietly and Shane could hear the "but" without him saying it.

"I want to see him!" Shane jumped up, vaguely noticing that no wires confined him to the bed. "Where is he!"

Blaine shuffled uncomfortably. "Shane, you can't –"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do! Where. Is. He."

Sighing in defeat, Blaine finally whispered, "In surgery."

Confusion crossed Shane's face. "Surgery? But didn't you just say it's been hours?"

Blaine was avoiding his gaze and that wasn't a good sign. "It has." And neither was that. Hours of surgery? Just what did that mean? Whatever it was Shane knew it wasn't good. He collapsed back onto the bed, staring ahead blankly and trying to process the thought of Reed being hurt badly enough to require that much surgery.

The vision of the truck colliding with Reed's door flashed in his mind making his stomach twist. Of course Reed would be hurt the worst, the truck hit him.

A terrible realization came over him then. It should have been him. He's the one that made Reed drive, it was all his fault.

Blaine watched with a deep frown as his brother buried his head in his hands. Tremors of his body showed he was crying and Blaine could hear it in his voice when he spoke.

"It's my fault. I practically forced him to drive, even though he didn't want to. It should have been me in that seat, not him."

Not sure what to say, Blaine sat next to him, draping an arm carefully over his shoulders. He luckily didn't have to speak since the door now opened and a man in white entered. Blaine immediately recognized him as the doctor that calmed him down when he first arrived, telling him Shane would be fine. Clearly, Blaine realized with a sinking gut, he wouldn't be fine until Reed was too.

Shane looked up at the entrance, choking out a question as soon as he could. "Is Reed alright?"

Blaine held onto the thin hope that the doctor would have a positive answer to that. He knew his brother was going to slowly kill himself with guilt.

Instead the doctor smiled faintly. "I'm not here about Reed, I'm here about you."

Shane wanted to scream. He didn't care about himself. He wasn't the one in surgery for hours. "I'm _fine,_" he said through gritted teeth.

"Good," Dr. Cole continued on smoothly. "I imagine your head is in some pain, along with the stiches your arm."

Shane could barely feel his headache anymore, and honestly he never even noticed there was a bandage covering the majority of his left bicep. "They're fine!"

"Good," the doctor repeated. "We'll of course give you some medicine for the pain and walk you through changing the stiches and explain when you can leave them out for good –"

"Okay I don't _care _about any of that." His voice was full of frustration. "I want to know about Reed. What happened to him? Will he be okay?"

The doctor frowned now but Shane tried not to think too much on it and just focus on whatever he said. "For now? He's okay."

He felt so relieved he could fall back on the bed. But once again he felt there was something more. "Does that mean he's out of surgery?"

"Not exactly. It just means so far he's been responding to it as expected. There's no sign he'll flatline but we always have to be ready for that possibility."

Shane stopped breathing at the word flatline. Flatline as in no heartbeat. No heartbeat as in dead. Reed couldn't die, not when it should have been Shane.

"He won't though, right?" he asked desperately. When the doctor took too long to answer, his voice became more frantic. "He won't! He can't!"

"Calm down, Shane. There's no way to tell. We'll just have to wait and see what happens with time."

Time, Shane soon found out, fucking sucks. After a torturously slow ten minutes in which the doctor checked him over, making sure he was still okay even though Shane insisted he was about twelve times, he was allowed to leave the room. They followed Dr. Cole down the hall silently, Shane being too crazed with panic to speak. Blaine couldn't think of anything to say.

The first thing that caught his eye was Kurt, alone in a small waiting area, the one closest to the room Reed was presumably in. His eyes were red and there a shaking cup of coffee in his hands. He looked up when Shane and Blaine came into to view but his expression didn't change.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said a voice hoarse from crying once Shane reached him.

Shane couldn't even bring himself to say thank you. "Do you know anything?"

Kurt lifted a hand to point towards a door a little ways down the hall. "He's in there." Shane followed the direction of his finger in time to see Dr. Cole disappear inside the room. He strained to see something inside, but it was too far away and too dark. The blinds on the door were closed and no light came from underneath. Kurt fell back in a chair, giving up on the coffee and sitting it down. "There have been so many people coming in and out of that room, all covered in blood." He whispered the next part to himself. "So much blood."

Shane still heard it, but he wished he hadn't. He couldn't think about that right now. He didn't want to hear that. He fell into the chair beside him, his head finding its way into his hands again. "I just want to see him."

"Me too."

Blaine stood before them, feeling just as scared as they did. But he also felt torn. He didn't know who to try to comfort first. Kurt might lose his best friend. Shane might lose his soulmate. Blaine would have to watch both of them be destroyed if that were to happen, and he wasn't sure if he could.

It was another hour before anyone said anything else. Kurt was trying hard not to cry again. Shane was doing just that, stifling his sobs with his hands. Blaine sat in the floor in front of them, ultimately deciding he couldn't chose between them.

"Hey," he whispered. Somehow it felt like he shouldn't speak too loudly. "He'll be okay. The doctor said he was doing fine."

"Yeah," Shane tried to say, his voice thick with tears. "He also said for now. And that was over an hour ago." He wasn't a doctor, and he barely knew anything medical, but he was willing to bet that if someone was in surgery for almost five hours, that wasn't a good thing.

Blaine said nothing else.

After another thirty minutes, Shane was beginning to fidget. His eyes were burning and his headache felt worse, but that wasn't why he couldn't stay still. He just couldn't sit here anymore, waiting for someone to come out the door that hadn't opened since Dr. Cole disappeared through it. He needed _something, _some scrap of news soon, or he didn't know what he'd do.

It felt like Hell Night all over again, standing outside that burning building, waiting for far too long to see if Reed would make it out alive. At least then it wasn't because of something he did. He was responsible this time.

His head jerked up at the sound of a door opening, relieved to see Dr. Cole walking out. Even if his life was about to change from whatever this man said, at least the waiting was finally over. He didn't know how much longer he could take not knowing.

He could hear each step the doctor took that brought him closer to them vibrating in his ears. Every heartbeat nearly shattered his ribs. Every second seemed like an eternity until he was finally standing in front of them.

They all stood, staring at the doctor expectantly. Shane's legs were shaking so hard he could barely do so. His whole world was depending on one frown and shake of the head that would say no, Reed didn't make it, you killed him with your stupid idea.

The doctor's lips twitched, but instead of moving down like Shane so feared, he smiled.

Shane forced himself not to get his hopes up. He had to hear it for himself. He had to know more than what a smile could tell him.

Dr. Cole's mouth opened and Shane took a deep breath, preparing himself. "He's fine." There were so many sounds of relief he didn't know who made what. "But as is common with head trauma patients, there's some brain swelling that needs to subside. That and the fact that the brain requires time to heal itself is why we keep these patients in a medically induced comatose state."

Shane was a little confused, but he felt so relived he didn't care. The term coma had him feeling worried though. "So when will he wake up?"

The doctor was still smiling. "Whenever he's ready."

Shane wanted to thank whatever god there was in that instant. Reed would be okay, he would wake up. He didn't know when but he would. That's all that mattered.

"Can I see him now?"

"Not just yet. Let's give them a chance to clean the room out first. But while they do that, does anyone have any questions?"

Shane had about six thousand questions, but he couldn't seem to settle on even one. Thankfully Kurt asked one for him.

"What exactly happened to him?"

Shane's head started to swim as the doctor explained things he didn't understand. Traumatic brain injury, intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral contusion, internal bleeding. The only thing he understood was broken ribs and a broken arm. He might not have fully understood what all that meant but he knew enough to feel even worse for putting Reed though all this.

Kurt and Blaine looked just as confused as he did, and equally horrified, but neither of them said anything else.

Shane was the next one to ask a question. "Can I see him now please?"

"Sure." Dr. Cole led them down the hall. He was moving too slowly in Shane's opinion, but he kept up with the pace without complaint. His heart was pounding in his chest from the anticipation and he tried his best to mentally prepare himself for whatever he would see. Although he knew no amount of preparing could make him feel better about seeing Reed in a hospital bed looking broken.

Just as the doctor began to open the door, Shane took a deep breath, trying to calm his erratic heart and swirl of nerves in the pit of his stomach. Dr. Cole walked through the door first and Shane very unceremoniously shoved past Blaine, who scolded at him, to be the next one in the room.

He froze upon entering, first noticing the abnormal amount of machines in the room. He had been with Reed to the hospital plenty of times when his clumsiness had him injured, but this was the first time he had been in the ICU. Reed was never hurt this badly before. Almost all of these machines were either hooked up to or near the form on the bed which Shane had trouble processing at first.

He didn't look like Reed. This person had bandages all over what was exposed of his chest, a cast on his left arm, multiple cuts and bruises on his face, another bandage wrapped around his head, and a breathing tube in his mouth. It made Shane's heart break.

He could barely hear the other two gasp from behind him, but he wasn't paying attention. He was focusing on Reed, trying to convince himself that what he was seeing didn't matter. Reed was alive. That was the main thing. Don't think about what he looks like and remember his heart is beating.

"Oh god," he finally whispered once the shock subsided. He was by the bed in an instant, falling numbly into a chair beside it. He reached out tentatively to take Reed's cold hand, careful not to disturb the IV in his arm.

He squeezed the hand in both of his, trying to put warmth back in Reed's icy fingers. "Reed," he choked on the words. "I am so fucking sorry. You shouldn't be here, it should be me. I am so sorry, please get better soon. Please." He was sobbing again, not really noticing or caring that he had an audience. He had to say it, even if Reed couldn't hear him.

"It's not your fault, Shane," he heard Blaine say from behind him. He didn't respond. He knew Blaine was trying to make him feel better but this time he wasn't going to buy it. It was completely his fault and they all knew it, so what was the point in arguing.

"He'll be just fine, Shane." That was Dr. Cole. "It just takes time."

"How much time?" Shane muttered without turning away from the boy on the bed, the boy he put there.

"A couple of weeks, maybe a month. It all depends on his intracranial pressure and brain activity."

Shane had no fucking idea what the hell that was supposed to be, but whatever it was it would take almost a month? A whole fucking month? Great. He could barely get through an hour and a half without Reed, how the hell was he supposed to survive a whole month?

He finally sighed, holding onto Reed's hand tighter. "As long as he wakes up sometime."

Blaine started talking to the doctor then but Shane wasn't paying attention. He was sweeping a few stray curls that peeked out from underneath the bandage off Reed's face. He wanted to kiss him, but the tube in his mouth made that impossible. He settled for kissing his right cheek, the one that wasn't littered with bruises and cuts.

A thought suddenly occurred to him as he played with Reed's fingers and watched his chest rise and fall.

"Has…" he started slowly, interrupting Blaine. "Has anyone called Hilde?"

He kept his eyes on Reed, not turning around to see their reactions. He could tell from the silence that no, no one had. This was confirmed when he heard Kurt curse, "Shit."

* * *

Hilde was currently overseas and didn't arrive until the next afternoon, but when she did, everyone knew it.

She bustled through the halls, demanding to see Reed immediately. She made all sorts of other demands for Reed as well, and for once Shane was thankful for her arrogant and oppressive personality. But on the second day when she commanded that Reed be moved into a more expensive, private room, Shane wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"Absolutely not. I won't let you. He's staying right here."

It was only the two of them along with Dr. Cole and the nurse that had to constantly monitor Reed's brain activity in his room. Shane never left.

She sneered at him. She didn't care what he said, she never did. They weren't exactly friends, never having really gotten along. It was only made worse when Reed left her to move in with Shane. "I don't really think you're in the position to make that call, _Shane."_

"Well neither are you!" He finally snapped. He stormed over to her. "Do you see all the shit that he's connected to? If you make them move all of these machines and something goes wrong and Reed has to pay the price, I will never let you forget it. Understand?" He was in her face and speaking through gritted teeth. He knew he was being harsh but there was no way in hell he was going to let her do something so dangerous. This was Reed's life.

She seemed honestly surprised by Shane's ferocity, and just a little offended. The doctor took that opportunity to speak up. "He's right. We can't risk moving him when he's in this state. Maybe after he wakes."

Hilde looked between the doctor's reassuring expression and Shane's cold one. She finally sighed in defeat. "Fine. But we could at least get him better bedding. Maybe something to make the room look better." She now scoffed at Shane. "Why don't you go get some flowers or something. I don't understand why you have yet to do that, you are his boyfriend."

Shane took a calming breath. This whole situation had him so stressed and worried, and this woman was not making it better. Instead of arguing and biting out a retort, Shane looked at Reed briefly before turning and leaving to the gift shop. He didn't bother to explain to her that he wasn't going to leave the room unless necessary until Reed's eyes opened, and maybe that's why he didn't think of getting any damn flowers. And that did not make him a bad boyfriend as he was sure she was implying. But now he just needed to get away from her.

Hopefully the shop had sunflowers. Shane knew those were Reed's favorites.

* * *

There were sunflowers. Shane got a lot of them, but it was depressing to watch them all keep dying. This room had no windows and therefore was cut off from any and all sunlight. The flowers didn't last long before they started to droop.

Shane would always replace them though. He wanted them to look beautiful whenever Reed woke up. They were now on the fifth batch of flowers.

He sat the new ones down on the only table available, immediately taking Reed's hand, the only one he could take.

"Hey," he said quietly, not wanted to disturb the silence that was only interrupted by the beeps of Reed's heart, a comforting sound. It was one of the rare times they were alone, but it wouldn't last long. Shane knew the nurse had to be back soon to monitor Reed. "It's been two weeks you know. That's a really long time to be without you." He brushed some hair out of Reed's eyes. There was no longer a bandage wrapped around his head, but the long scar with stiches that went from his scalp to his temple was hard to miss. Most of the bruising had disappeared and the cuts healed. His face was still a little scratched up though, but Shane was relieved to see Reed looking like himself again. He could feel the prickling in his eyes. "I really miss you, Reed." His voice broke. "I wish you would wake up. I hate being without you. You better be working hard to get better." He leaned down to press a kiss to Reed's forehead, then nose, then the hand he held. "I love you so much."

"Awww." The voice made him jump. He hadn't heard the door open, but there stood Kurt, flowers of his own in his hands.

Shane blushed only slightly, he wasn't embarrassed if someone heard him saying something he meant. He didn't have to say anything else since Kurt starting speaking again.

"I just talked to the doctor." He walked across the room to put the flowers beside Shane's. "Good news. He said something about TBI and GCS and some more stuff that I didn't understand but the conclusion was that Reed should be waking up soon."

Relief and excitement flooded over him so suddenly he wasn't sure if he heard Kurt right. These last two weeks were absolutely miserable. Seeing Reed laying there unconscious and so badly hurt crushed his heart each time he looked at him. He rarely left the hospital and he all but refused to be in their apartment more than was needed to shower and change. He couldn't be there without Reed; he couldn't be away from him. Hilde came and went, and when she was here she was mostly on the phone working. That or annoying the crap out of Shane. Kurt and Blaine were also here frequently, but they couldn't stay away from work for long. Shane decided to take a leave of absence from his job as a backup dancer. Thankfully they were understanding and an understudy took his place. He wasn't going to leave Reed alone like this for anything, certainly not a job.

To hear he was about to get his love back was the best possible thing.

He finally collected himself enough to ask, "Really?"

Kurt smiled and nodded. "Uh huh. Now we just have to see when."

It turned out "soon" was a very vague word. And almost another week later wasn't really Shane's idea of soon.

He was squirming every second he was with Reed, which was almost every second of the week, squeezing Reed's hand and whispering pleas for him to wake up. Nothing changed though, at least nothing Shane could discern.

It was day twenty and Shane was going crazy. Knowing that Reed could wake up anytime had him on the edge of his seat only to be disappointed when another day passed with no change.

Currently, Shane was walking from the cafeteria back to Reed's room. He trusted Kurt and Blaine to keep an eye on him while he went to get coffee. He found himself needing more and more of it as he was losing way too much sleep.

He had his phone out, lazily texting the twins who he'd finally broke down and told. Kurt, Blaine, and himself had agreed to keep it a secret from their friends until Reed woke up so not to unnecessarily worry them. But that was before the twins sent him a message explaining how they'd be back from Paris soon and wanted to know how everyone was doing. Shane couldn't lie to them and had told them everything, right down to the details of how this was entirely his fault.

He was just about to reply to one of their attempts at comforting him when he smacked into another body.

"Ow!" Coffee splashed out of the cup and onto the floor as he looked up at the person who ran into him. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

Blaine's expression was hard to place and Shane could feel butterflies in his stomach. He started grinning, grabbing Shane's wrist and trying to pull him forward. "He's awake, Shane! He's awake!"

Shane could hardly hear him. There was blood pounding in his ears. "What?" He was quiet at first, but as the words slowly sunk into his stunned mind he started shouting. "What? What!"

"He woke up, they're giving him tests now, come on!"

The cup slipped from Shane's numb fingers, splashing coffee all over the ground. Blaine started to pull him again, but there was really no need. Once Shane remembered how to work his legs, he was running ahead of him, leaving the coffee cup and mess behind.

It seemed to take longer than usual to get back to the ICU unit and even longer to get to Reed's room despite the fact they were running.

He opened the door slowly regardless of every part of him that wanted to break the door down as fast as possible. This was what he'd been waiting for. He needed to see Reed.

He stepped into the room, Blaine right on his heels, just as Dr. Cole was walking away from Reed's bed, a clipboard in hand. Kurt was against the opposite wall, watching Reed silently with wide eyes. Shane was doing the same, frozen in the doorway. But Reed wasn't looking at them.

His eyes kept drooping down and he looked incredibly drowsy like he was about to fall back to sleep any second. But Shane couldn't be bothered by that, because even if his eyes were slipping closed, they were open.

"Reed," he breathed, finding the ability to move once Reed finally seemed to notice there were other people in the room at the sound of his name.

Shane saw a flash of surprise in Reed's (open, and Shane would not stop being thankful for that) eyes as he rushed to the chair beside his bed. He fell into it, instantly taking Reed's hand.

"Reed. Oh god, I missed you so much." Reed now looked very awake, watching him with wide eyes. He started tugging his hand back but Shane only held onto it tighter. "Are you mad at me? You should be. I was wrong and of course you were right, as usual." He laughed a little but Reed's expression didn't change. He tried pulling his hand back, harder this time, and Shane let him, thinking he was definitely angry at him. "I am so sorry, Reed. I should have listened to you. But trust me, I've learned my lesson. I'm never letting you drive again. Better yet, I'm not letting you in a vehicle again. I hope you like walking because that's what you'll be doing from now on." He was smiling, clearly joking, but Reed didn't seem to get it.

"What are you _talking _about?" he asked in a squeak, his voice sounding small.

"I'm sorry. So sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. Are you mad at me?" He was desperate now, all joking gone.

Reed's eyes only got bigger, and he attempted to scoot away from Shane. "No!" Shane didn't feel very relieved by that considering he could tell Reed was trying to get away from him and he all but shouted his answer. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know who you are!"

Shane stared at Reed's incredulous expression blankly, trying to understand what he just said. He sank back in the chair in a daze.

Reed was huffing, seemingly upset and trying to get as far away from Shane as the bed would allow.

It was silent until Kurt spoke up from where he was still against the wall. "What did he just say?"

Shane was finally able to snap out of, jumping out of the chair and rounding up on Dr. Cole who stood in the back corner of the room. Blaine and Kurt joined him, looking just as confused.

"What is he talking about? You told me he would fine, why doesn't he remember me?" he was speaking quietly but the grief could still be heard in his voice.

The doctor didn't seem too worried. "Memory loss is very common with head injuries, normal really."

Before he could continue on, Shane interrupted with another question. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Well there's no way to tell until the patient has awoken. Post traumatic amnesia is common after a head injury of this caliber. But," he cut Shane's question off before he could ask. "There is no determining how long it lasts. PTA can last anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of months."

Shane gulped at that. Months. What would happen if Reed didn't know who he was for _months? _

"But he's okay right?" He guessed that whatever it was would be fine as long as Reed was alive and well.

Dr. Cole smiled. "I would imagine so." He walked past them and back to where Reed was on the bed looking over his body and cast on his arm with wide eyes. "Reed?"

Reed's head snapped up. "What's going on?" He sounded scared and Shane wanted nothing more than to make him feel better. "Where am I and who is he?" He directed this to Shane, but only looked at him briefly before tearing his gaze away.

"You're in the hospital." The doctor chose to leave the last part unanswered.

"What happened to me?" He was whispering now, shaking slightly. Shane had to force himself to stay with Kurt and Blaine and to keep his mouth shut.

"You were in a car crash." Reed gasped but Dr. Cole kept his reassuring tone. "We can talk more about that later, but first can you answer a few questions?" Reed nodded slowly, looking shocked quiet. "What's your full name?"

Reed swallowed before answering. "Reed James Van Kamp." He winced a little at having to say his middle name and it made Shane chuckle. Reed's head jerked towards him at the sound and his eyes narrowed.

"Good. And your birthday?"

Shane silently listened as Reed answered more mundane questions about himself that Shane knew the answers to already. It wasn't until the fifth question that he was surprised.

"How old are you?"

Reed didn't have to think about it, he answered easily. "Sixteen."

Shane started ungracefully choking on his spit. Sixteen? As in one six? Reed was staring at him again, eyes narrowed like before. Shane could tell he was making a bad first (…second?) impression. But he really wasn't bothered by that because Reed, twenty four year old Reed, just said he was sixteen.

Dr. Cole didn't seem fazed. "And what year is it?"

"2010."

"What month?"

Reed's face scrunched together. This was the first question he seemed to have to think about. "Um… October?"

Shane stared at Reed quietly, feeling helpless. It was April.

After the doctor wrote everything down, he excused himself, saying he would be right back.

Once he left, Reed looked over at the three left, this time ignoring Shane and speaking to the others. "Blaine? Kurt? What's going on?"

Kurt looked genuinely surprised he knew who he was. "You… you recognize me?"

Reed's eyebrows pulled together. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

Kurt shared an awkward glance with the other two. He was at a loss for words. What would be the appropriate thing to say to that?

"Uh…"

Reed didn't seem to think anything on his hesitance. "What happened?" his eyes flickered to Shane for only a second. "Is this a joke?"

Kurt stepped forward, frowning. "No Reed, it isn't."

After another fleeting glance towards the only person he didn't seem to know, Reed spoke in a hushed tone. "Then who is he?"

Even through all the intense worry and confusion, Shane felt like laughing at the way Reed's wide eyes kept drifting to him only to fly away. If he didn't look scared stiff of him, Shane probably would have.

Kurt's lips twitched too, but he didn't try to answer.

He didn't have to since the door opened and Dr. Cole walked back into the room. "Well Reed, I'm willing to bet that you're pretty confused."

"That might be an understatement," Reed mumbled in response. Shane had to swallow another laugh. He was still Reed.

"First off you should know that this is very common and nothing to be too alarmed by." Reed was feeling alarmed already. "But apparently you're suffering from some memory loss."

Reed blinked, only feeling more confused. "…how much memory loss?"

The doctor pursed his lips. "About eight years."

Reed's mouth fell open. "Eight years?" He started yelling skeptically. "Eight whole years!" He looked to Kurt and Blaine, noticing for the first time they both looked much more mature and refined. His eyes started stinging. He missed so much and he had no idea what. His bottom lip started quivering. "Where's my mom?"

Shane had to visibly restrain himself from jumping forward to comfort him. Seeing Reed cry was still one of the worse feelings to him.

Kurt was the one who ran to do what Shane so wanted to. "She'll be here, don't worry. When she was informed she insisted on getting you proper clothing so you don't have to stay in the hospital gown forever."

The promise of new clothes and seeing his mother made Reed feel a little better, a little but not much. He was soon fully crying, trying to hide behind his arm. How could he forget so much?

Shane couldn't take it anymore. He rushed forward, past Kurt and to the side of Reed's bed. "Please don't cry." Reed peeked out from behind his arm, looking shocked. Shane tried to take his hand. "It'll be okay, just please don't cry."

He was squeezing his hand now and it took Reed a second to register this. Once he did, he was fighting to get his hand back. "Don't touch me!"

Shane's face fell, but he did what Reed said, letting go and stepping back with a deep frown. It hurt that Reed obviously didn't want to be near him or have anything to do with him though Shane could sort of understand why. He was probably scared of him.

Once Shane was at a respectable distance, Reed continued to cry, once again hiding behind his good arm.

Shane watched, feeling terrible and wishing there was something he could do. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Blaine was standing beside him, watching him with a sympathetic look.

"Come on, let's go wait outside."

Shane was about to object, but when he saw Kurt moving into the chair beside Reed's bed and Reed allowing himself to be comforted by him, the protest died in his throat.

"We'll be outside if you need us," Blaine announced, taking Shane by the wrist and leading him out.

Out in the hall, in the same small waiting area Shane had endured and hour and a half of torture, he collapsed into a chair, staring ahead at nothing.

Blaine sat beside him, jarring his arm and trying to smile. "It'll be okay, Shane." Shane ran a hand through his curls, pulling and looking desperate and Blaine realized it would take more than that. "It could be worse you know."

Shane sighed, staring at his shoes. "I know. But it still hurts."

Blaine shrugged a little. "I know it does. But he eventually came around to liking you the first time, though I have no idea why. Who's to say he won't do it again? Just give him time."

Half of Shane's mouth was turning up into a smile but he still felt uneasy. "Easy for you to say. He knows who you are."

"He'll remember you soon enough. Just wait."

Back in the room, Kurt waited patiently for Reed's tears to stop. After ten minutes had lapsed, they seemed to slow down. Kurt rubbed his arm soothingly until they did.

Reed's eyes were still swimming when he started whispering. "How could I miss such a big chunk of my life?"

Kurt's voice was soft. "But you didn't. You were there and experienced it all, you just don't remember it right now."

Reed wiped at his damp cheeks. "But isn't that the same thing? It's like it never happened."

Kurt took his hand once he was done. "It's not though. You'll get your memory back soon. In the meantime you can ask me anything you want, and I'll answer you honestly."

Reed studied Kurt's older face closely. He looked better than ever and fairly handsome. Reed's cheeks flooded with blood with that thought. Oddly enough his first question had nothing to do with himself. "Well… the last I remember you were pawning after Blaine. Did you two get together?"

Kurt smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We first kissed on New Year's, been together ever since."

"New Year's as in 2011?"

"Yep."

To Reed that had yet to happen. He couldn't imagine it being so long ago to Kurt. "Do you live together?"

Kurt nodded again. "We do. Not ten minutes away from you and Sh –" He cut himself off. It wasn't time for that yet. He coughed awkwardly. "And yes before you ask, we live in New York."

That made Reed grin and it eased some of Kurt's tension. "So does that mean Logan gave up on you or what happened with that?"

Kurt had to pause and think about what that meant. "Oh! Yeah, he pretty much got over that after the whole situation with Julian."

Reed's eyebrows furrowed. "What thing with Julian?"

"Well," Kurt knew he would have to leave some pieces of this long story out, so he kept it simple. "He found out Julian had been in love with him for years."

Now Reed's eyebrows shot up. "Julian Larson?"

"Uh huh. They've been together ever since, too."

Reed fell back onto his pillow. "Wow. I would have never guessed."

Kurt waited for him to ask another question. "Anything else?"

Reed glanced at him bashfully, looking oddly nervous all of the sudden. "That guy, the one with the hair." Kurt almost laughed at Reed's description of Shane. "Who is he?"

Kurt was grinning now. Finally. "That's Shane. He's Blaine's younger brother."

That information seemed calm Reed down, but he still looked confused. "If he's Blaine's brother, why was he all over me?"

"Can you really not think of a reason?" His expression didn't change as he watched Reed to try to figure it out.

Reed chewed on his lip. "Did we become friends after Blaine introduced us?"

"Well, yeah. But…" He trailed off leaving Reed looking confused.

"But what?"

"Reed, come on. Think about the way he treated you. He really cares about you."

Reed still looked just as puzzled. "Friends care for each other."

"No, I mean he _really _cares about you." Kurt watched Reed's face in amusement, waiting for the look of realization to cross his features. When it finally did he wanted to laugh again.

Reed gulped. "He… _likes _me?"

Now Kurt was laughing. "Reed, he more than likes you. He's been in love with you since the second he laid eyes on you."

The air left Reed's lungs, and he forgot how to breathe. Finding out someone liked him was unbelievable enough, but _love? _No one liked him like that. He was small and awkward and clumsy. There wasn't anyone who would be attracted to that.

"W-what? You're lying."

"Oh I am far from lying. I think you know that, too. You saw the way he acted when you woke up. Next time he's in here take note of the way he looks at you." Kurt enjoyed the way Reed's face was turning beat red.

"But…" It still didn't make sense to him. The last thing he knew he was a confused teenager who didn't know who he liked or what he wanted and thought he would surely be alone forever. He couldn't believe something like this. "I don't get it…"

Kurt was still smiling. "Just wait. You will."

It wasn't until Hilde came tearing into the room did Reed see Shane again, although with his mother making such a fuss he was hardly paying attention to the quiet guy in the corner. He couldn't even get a breath in until Hilde stopped asking him questions and turned on the doctor. After Dr. Cole explained everything (what happened to Reed during the crash, how long it would take to recover, when he could be released, what to do when his memory returned, ect.) he felt a little better about the whole thing, like he could now breathe properly. At least things kind of made sense now. Kind of.

Now that his mother was reassured he'd be fine, she was fussing about his hair instead of his wellbeing, which was maybe a little more annoying. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, and due to the proximity he now noticed something different about her.

"You look older."

Her hand froze in the middle of patting down Reed's hair. The next thing that was heard was Shane's very loud laughing from the opposite corner.

Reed watched with fascination as his mother narrowed her eyes very slowly before jerking her head to face him so she could say with a growl, "Watch it, Shane."

Reed didn't know why he felt so stunned by seeing this exchange. Maybe it was seeing his own mother interact with him like that, proving that if he was in her life then he had to be a large part of Reed's life, too.

Shane didn't even bother to apologize, only lifted his hands up in surrender, his eyes locking with Reed's.

Reed realized he had been staring and quickly looked away, suddenly finding the blanket much more interesting as he felt his face heat up. He could feel his mother tugging at his hair again and wished she would stop.

"Um," he mumbled quietly. "I'm tired. Can I please go to sleep now?"

Hilde dropped her hands. "Of course. You're probably exhausted." She stood up and kissed his hair and then cheek. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be back tomorrow." When she turned, her eyes met Shane's, but instead of saying anything she promptly left without a word. Even though Reed couldn't see it happen, he could feel the tension between them and he wondered why it existed.

Next it was Kurt hugging him and saying the same, then it was Blaine. He felt nerves flutter in his stomach when Shane got off the wall to walk towards him. What if he tried to hug him, or kiss his cheek, or even worse his _lips. _Shane stopped in front of the bed and Reed's eyes widened, heart pounding in anticipation. He was startled when all Shane did was hold out his hand, something white inside his palm.

"You might need this," he smiled shyly, handing Reed the object.

It took Reed a minute to realize this was supposed to be his phone. The phone he remember having didn't look like this, but then he guessed it wouldn't considering that was eight years ago.

When all Shane did was smile at him and say goodnight before heading to the door, Reed realized he shouldn't have worried.

He waited until the door closed completely, leaving him alone before he started to inspect the touch screen phone. It took a second for him to figure out how to turn it on, but once it was he had no idea what to look for. Messages, he decided. He didn't read through very much, Kurt's texts about fashion and shopping, the twins being annoying, but mostly they were from Shane. His curiosity got the better of him as he finally clicked one, bringing up all their conversations. He was surprised to see how normal they were, like actual good friends. He was feeling pretty okay with everything until he saw a reply from himself.

**I love you. **

He stared at the three words, eyes wide and mouth open. He managed to catch Shane's response of "I love you too" but it only made him feel even more dumbfounded. He knew Kurt had told him Shane loved him, but he said nothing about Reed loving Shane back. Did that mean they were actually together? And if so then for how long? Reed swallowed nervously. Maybe he meant it in a platonic way?

His hands were shaking as he closed out of the messages instead bringing up his saved pictures. He knew he shouldn't, but he was too curious now. And just like that he was everywhere, sometimes by himself sometimes with Reed. The pictures of Shane were endless, only interrupted by ones of other friends or Reed alone. It took seeing a picture of Shane kissing his cheek, and then directly beside it one of them in a lip lock to make him throw the phone to the foot of the bed.

He was frozen, staring at the white wall without seeing it. He could hardly believe what he'd just seen. Sometime in the life he had no recollection of, he had actually _kissed _someone. And it was that weird guy he was still uncertain about. He would never have done that at sixteen. At least he didn't think he would. It made him wonder what else had changed in these eight years.

It also made him terribly nervous. He didn't know who he was supposed to be anymore.

He also didn't know how he was going to act around this guy tomorrow. He was sure it would be even more awkward than today now that he knew they were supposed to be in love.

It was so hard to believe though, because Reed couldn't picture himself loving anybody. And even more than that, there was no way he could picture someone loving him.


	2. Three Weeks

**Sorry this chapter is so late. It's what I already had written and I planned on adding more but I feel like absolute shit after this surgery, so I just decided to update now and work what was supposed to be the end of this chapter into the beginning of the next. Hope you don't mind.**

* * *

Shane's neck hurt. He wasn't particularly fond of sleeping on the couch in the waiting area in the ICU unit, but that was as close to Reed as he could get so he didn't complain.

When he woke up the next day it was to see a figure standing over him. He jumped, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was instantly talking. "What is it? Did something happen? Is everything alright?"

Dr. Cole smiled in assurance. "Everything's fine. And everything will be fine so you don't have to stay here. You can go back home and get some rest. You look like you need it."

Shane shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair. "I'm not sleeping there until Reed can, too."

The doctor's smile faltered. "It must not be very comfortable sleeping here. Shane, I promise you Reed will be perfectly fine."

Shane's expression didn't change. "Yeah well he'll still be here. And as long as he's here, so am I. I'm not leaving him alone."

Dr. Cole could see there wasn't any convincing him, Shane's mind was made up. He was so stubborn, he had been since the second he woke up in the hospital and demanded to see Reed, not caring about himself. That's what made Dr. Cole like him so much.

"But I suppose I should go back for a little bit to shower and change. I want to look more presentable today, maybe I won't scare him as badly."

Sometime during the time Shane was gone, Kurt came hurdling through the door, pulling a drowsy looking Blaine behind him.

"Kurt, slow down, love. It's only nine. He might not even be awake."

Kurt kept sprinting until he reached Reed's door. He pulled it open gently, not wanting to wake him if what Blaine said was true.

Reed was awake, but his eyes were half closed. He didn't look tired though, only bored. He kept eyeing his phone, his only source for entertainment in the otherwise dreadfully boring room, and considering picking it back up. What he saw last night kept him from doing it. He wasn't exactly prepared to see anything like that again.

He looked up at the sound of Kurt rushing through the door with a large grin spread across his face. "Hey!"

"Hi." Reed returned the smile just a little softer. He noted Blaine's sleepy demeanor. "Why are you two here so early?"

Kurt turned his head to watch Blaine walk slowly into the room. "Ignore him, he's used to sleeping in."

Reed only wondered why for a second before it dawned on him Blaine must have a job that didn't require waking up early. Kurt seemed perfectly awake which probably meant he wasn't so lucky.

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Oh don't worry," Kurt was quick to reassure. "I have a very understanding boss." Reed didn't catch his suggestive undertone or the way he smirked that signaled there was a reason for that.

"Well at least you're here." Reed sighed and let his head fall back on the pillow. "I have been so bored."

Blaine had now managed to drag one of the chairs from against the wall over beside where Kurt was seated next to Reed's bed. Blaine fell heavily into it before letting his head rest in Kurt's lap and closing his eyes. Kurt ignored him but Reed laughed.

"Well what have you done so far? Has the doctor said anything?"

Reed let his eyes slip closed as well. "I've ate. And that's it. He did say that I was going to start learning how to walk again. So I guess I'll be falling on my face today. That's fun."

Kurt laughed. "You're not going to fall. I don't think Shane will let you."

Reed's eyes flew open and Kurt wanted to slap a hand over his mouth. He immediately tried to cover up his tracks. "I won't let you either. And I'm sure Blaine won't. You'll be fine Reed, really."

Reed was watching him with wide eyes, nodding slowly. He tried not to think anything about what Kurt said about Shane. That didn't really mean anything. It was innocent.

Blaine's eyes opened just a fraction at his brother's name. He lazily pulled out his phone and sent him a quick message.

**Reed's learning how to walk today. Where the heck are you?**

As it sent, he pocketed his phone and went back to trying to sleep on Kurt's lap.

Kurt tried to change the subject by asking a question he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to. "So how's your memory? Have you recalled anything yet?"

Reed shook his head sadly. "No. Still stuck in 2010." His face scrunched up as he tried to figure out the math. "Is it really 2018?"

"2017," Kurt corrected but it didn't change Reed's frown. That was still way too many years to forget. Kurt could see how upset he looked. "But my offer still stands. I'll tell you anything you want to know. You just have to ask."

Reed looked back up at him and bit his lip. He knew what he wanted to ask, but it was too embarrassing. Instead his eyes drifted down to where Blaine was lying on Kurt's lap with Kurt's hand playing idly in his hair. The sight made him smile. "How exactly did you two get together?"

Kurt started to grin again, and he sat back in content. "You know the New Year's party right?" Reed nodded. He remembered yesterday when Kurt said they had been together since the party but he didn't say how. "Well it was the twins' turn to host it, and they do this stupid game where the lights go off at midnight and you get to kiss someone." Reed rolled his eyes. He remembered that, too. It always scared him. "And we were all scared Logan was going to try to kiss yours truly. Especially after what Shane did."

Reed froze. Shane was there? He was already in the picture? When exactly did they meet then? Reed had been thinking high school graduation at least, not a mere couple of months after Reed's memory was stuck. "S-Shane?"

Kurt shook his head. "Yeah. You see he thought it'd be a good idea to slip Logan a video of Blaine and me singing a flirty duet."

Reed's eyebrows pulled together. "Why would he do that?"

Blaine answered this time, still buried in Kurt's lap. "Because he's stupid."

Kurt laughed and Reed felt his lips twitch. "He was trying to, very indiscreetly, tell Logan to back off."

"Not the best way to go about that," Blaine commented.

"He was just thinking about you." Kurt turned his attention back to Reed. "It didn't really work out how he planned." He ignored Blaine's remark of "Imagine that" and continued with the story. "Logan just got really angry and showed up to the party anyways."

"Did he kiss you?" Reed asked quietly.

"He tried. We were talking for a long time while Blaine ran around the party frantically searching for us so he could make sure he didn't. He didn't find us until right before the lights went off and it was right that second that Logan leaned down. But he didn't get very far. I stopped him and told him I was in love with Blaine, not knowing he was in ear shot."

"I heard everything," Blaine added.

Reed's face broke into a large smile. "That's cute. Did you two kiss then?"

"Nope. We would not kiss until we were watching the sun rise on the roof that morning."

"That's even cuter." Reed's smile fell just a little. He was happy for Kurt and Blaine, really. But he was so confused as to how Shane came into the story. He didn't want to ask though, especially in front of Blaine. But he couldn't help but feel queasy as he realized Shane was at the party, where all the lights turned off so you could kiss anyone you wanted, and if what Kurt said last night about Shane _loving_ him from the beginning was true, did that mean Shane tried to kiss him? Did he kiss back? Was that even their first kiss? How long had he known Shane when that happened? It was so confusing but he didn't dare ask with Shane's brother in the room. He didn't even think he could ask Kurt alone anymore. He had been way too smug about it last night, like he wanted to try to make Reed love Shane again. And that just made him uncomfortable.

The silence was interrupted by the door banging open and someone shouting, "I'm here! Did they already start? Is Reed okay?"

Reed jumped, looking up so see Shane running into the room with dripping wet hair.

"Reed's fine." Blaine mumbled, irritated by the sudden explosion of noise.

Kurt's nose wrinkled as he took in Shane's appearance. "Why is your hair wet?"

"Can a guy take a shower?" Shane shook his hair out, making Kurt flinch and cover his head, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Which reminds me." He started walking towards Reed, who had been sitting frozen on the bed since Shane's arrival.

Reed's heart was pounding again as Shane got closer. He wasn't really watching him though, his eyes were unintentionally trained on Shane's lips and he couldn't help remembering the picture. It was a reminder that he had kissed those lips at some point and that made his blush get darker. His eyes jerked up to Shane's before he could notice where he had been staring.

Shane was now in front of his bed and holding out a burberry carrying case. "I got some of your favorite hair products along with lotions, face creams, and other sundries like toothpaste and your toothbrush. I figured you might need it."

Reed took the case numbly, quickly looking away once he realized he was staring again. "Um, thanks." He was actually extremely grateful. His hair's frazzled feeling (he couldn't see it as he had yet to look in a mirror) was bugging him endlessly. "But you didn't have to get them. My mom could have brought them with her."

Shane small smile fell, and he realized, feeling like an idiot, that Reed didn't know they were living together. He quickly recovered and smiled at him, shrugging lightly as if it wasn't a big deal.

He sat down in a chair by the wall, wanting to give Reed some room. He still seemed uncomfortable around him. "So what have we been talking about?" He tried to shake his hair out to dry it.

Kurt had taken Reed's case and was looking through it in curiosity, mostly to check to see if what Shane brought was acceptable. "Mm, we were just talking about you actually."

Shane's eyes widened and he quickly glanced to Reed only to find him staring back. Reed looked away as soon as he was caught, but Shane studied him. Just what did they tell him? It better not have been anything embarrassing. Reed was already scared of him, and he would have to kill Kurt and Blaine if they were making it worse.

"Really?" he finally asked, drawing the word out. "And what were you saying?"

"Just the story of how we got together," Kurt answered. "With extra emphases on you being a moron and giving Logan that video."

Shane's muscles relaxed. That wasn't so bad. "Oh."

"I still don't understand what you were thinking," Blaine said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He realized that now that Shane was here, he wouldn't be getting any sleep.

"I was thinking that that jerk had already broken your heart once and I wasn't going to let him do it again." Shane defended, crossing his arms. "Kurt belonged to you, not him."

"Kurt isn't an object so he actually didn't belong to anyone," Kurt interrupted, testing out some of Reed's lotion.

"But how would showing him that video change anything? It only pissed him off," Blaine pointed out.

Shane scoffed and held his head up in gratification. "Well it just so happens that Kurt confessed his feelings for you because of that. So I guess you really have me to thank for finally getting you together. Who knows how long it would have taken if I didn't help you out."

Blaine was turned towards him, sitting up completely straight. "You have got to be kidding me."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but Reed giggled. Watching them fight was pretty amusing and wasn't that hard to see them as brothers anymore.

Shane glanced to him at the sound, but Reed had already looked away, his eyes locked on his fidgeting hands. He desperately wanted to say something, anything, to him but he had no idea what. It was clear Reed was still very skeptical about him. He had to wait for Reed to come to him so not to overwhelm or scare him, but after three weeks without him, he missed Reed so much. He wanted to talk to him, hold him, kiss him, but he couldn't. He knew he'd be fine as long as Reed was okay but it still hurt.

The door opened then and Shane was thankful for the distraction. Dr. Cole was all smiles as he walked in with a nurse and a wheelchair behind him.

"So Reed, ready to learn how to walk?"

Reed swallowed nervously but nodded. He could hardly walk before this accident, what if he only managed to make a fool out of himself in front of everyone?

He let Kurt and the nurse help him into the chair, not noticing Blaine and Shane still bickering behind him. The nurse pushed him while Dr. Cole explained what they would be doing.

"It's not going to be too hard, don't worry. We just have to let your body get your strength back up. It's usually a little strenuous for patients out of comas, but you should get it in no time."

Kurt smiled at him in agreement but Reed still felt a little nervous. It might not have been too hard for other people, but he was sure they all had coordination, something Reed seriously lacked.

Once they were in the physical therapy room, Reed was pushed over to a long walkway with two bars on either side. The nurse was already in front of him, leaning down to help him stand. As soon as he was upright, wobbling, Reed looked over to see Blaine and Shane had wordlessly followed them into the room. He had actually been hoping Shane wouldn't come. Somehow the thought of falling was only more embarrassing if Shane saw it, but he didn't know why.

The nurse helped him move to the beginning of the walkway but it was a slow process.

"All you have to do is grab each bar with your hands, and pull yourself forward. It'll get easier as you go and your body will automatically know what to do," she explained simply.

Reed hoped it was that easy. He started to move slowly. He didn't really have any upper body strength whatsoever, so his arms trembled with exertion. They could only support him so much, meaning his aching legs had to do most the work. He could only take baby steps, and even those hurt, so it took a while for him to reach the end. But when he did, his casted arm slipped off the rail and he fell right on his side.

Shane was too far away to properly catch him, but he just managed to sprint forward and catch his other hand before he landed on his bad arm.

"Areyouokay? Didyouhurtyourarm? Areyoupain?" Shane asked in a blur, placing his other hand on Reed's side, helping him stand back up.

Reed stared at him in shock, not quite catching everything he said. His mouth was hanging open, but no words came out, only a tiny, surprised squeak.

Shane steered him upright before he realized he was still touching Reed and jumped back. "Um, I'm sorry. But you're okay right? Your arm is fine?"

Reed nodded dumbly, not sure what to say when Shane seemed so concerned. His stomach was filled with butterflies but he didn't know why.

"Good." Shane coughed awkwardly and shuffled back a little, giving Reed some distance.

Reed tore his eyes away to look at Dr. Cole who was smiling at him. "Do… do I just turn around and do it again?"

He nodded. "As many times as it takes."

Reed gulped and turned around slowly. He hoped he could get it soon, he didn't want something like that to happen if he fell again.

The walk back went just as slow as the last one. It wasn't until the third time did it get better. His legs didn't hurt as much and he could take bigger steps. On the way back, his legs weren't shaking anymore.

When he reached the beginning again the doctor spoke up. "Try it without using your arms this time."

He did, but he slipped up a lot, having to grab onto to the rail to steady himself. It was the same going back. It was the seventh time he had to walk forward, but he could finally do it without shaking or the rails assistance. He couldn't walk very fast, but he still made it using his legs alone.

He smiled in triumph, but the moment was short lived for he soon jumped in surprise. Shane was clapping enthusiastically, cheering and bouncing up and down. Kurt and Blaine rolled their eyes in good humor at his antics, but started clapping along too, a lot less noisily.

"Go Reed!" Shane cupped his hands over his mouth to shout.

Reed's cheeks tingled and he could tell he was blushing. He still wasn't used to the attention, especially not from Shane. He could tell Shane cared about him but it was still too strange to think about. He couldn't imagine being in love with him.

He only had to walk a couple more times before they let him stop. He was given the option of riding back to the room in the wheelchair but he decided to walk. After lying in a bed for so long, he wanted to. He used Kurt's arm for support on the way back, just in case.

He collapsed back on the bed, feeling irrationally tried. He didn't mean to fall asleep, but with Kurt and Blaine talking in quiet voices and Shane not saying anything at all, only staring at him (which Reed pretended not to notice) it was easy to.

He woke up when his mother arrived, bringing lunch with her. She brought some for Kurt and Blaine as well, but claimed to have not realized Shane would be there too.

Shane could barely conceal his annoyed glare. It's not that he cared about the food, but it was the insinuation he _wouldn't _be here, as if he would be anywhere else. Where else would he be when Reed was in the hospital than right there with him? Just because Reed didn't know who he was at the moment that didn't mean Shane was going to forget about him too. Not now, not ever.

His glare only intensified when Hilde suggested he go get everyone coffee, clearly trying to get rid of him, but he did it without compliant. He could really use some.

Reed saw him glance to him briefly before he left. He felt a little bad for him. Hilde obviously didn't like him too much and she never made life easy for people she disliked.

She sat down in one of the chairs by his bed, Kurt and Blaine were by the wall, giving her some space.

"So how are you feeling today? Remember anything yet?" She instantly started pressing his hair down.

"I'm fine. And no." He frowned a little at that before grinning. "But I learned how to walk again today."

She looked puzzled as she looked him over. "You couldn't walk?"

Reed's smile fell a little. "Well no. I had been lying down for too long." When she only hummed Reed's smile fell completely. He remembered Shane jumping up and down and cheering for him. Why couldn't she be happy for him too?

He returned to his food, eating in silence as she talked about what was happening in the world of fashion. He would have to talk to Kurt about this later to see what all he'd missed out on in that department.

Shane returned shortly after he finished eating, handing out coffees to Kurt and Blaine and saying their orders as he went along. When Shane reached him, Reed was surprised he got his coffee order right. He flashed back to what felt like only a month or so to him, but was actually years ago, when Kurt was squealing about how Blaine knew his coffee order and how this was apparently very important.

He tried not to think on that and just politely accepted the cup. Shane's voice brought him out of his flashback.

"Oops. Sorry I didn't get you one, Hilde. I didn't realize you'd still be here."

Reed was glad he hadn't taken a sip of coffee yet, because it would have been spit out as he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he had to hide his mouth behind his hand. Shane was watching him in fascination (and pride that he'd been able to make Reed laugh like that), but Reed was barely aware. He was, however, aware of Hilde scolding at him.

He quickly choked down the rest of his giggles, taking a long drink to calm down. He could see Shane grin at him before he quickly darted his eyes away.

Shane was still feeling proud, even if Reed did look away from him, as he sat next to Kurt and Blaine.

Hilde stayed the rest of the day, filling Reed in on mundane things about the world. What the trends were, where Reed went to college, who the president now was, how long he'd lived in New York, New York now allowing same sex marriage. Reed blushed quite brightly at the last one and his eyes unintentionally trailed to Shane, who was staring right back. His face got way hotter and he had to quickly look away, which Shane thought was adorable.

It was getting dark when he asked if he could take an actual shower since he was now able to stand. The nurse said it was fine and everyone was soon hugging him goodbye, making promises to return tomorrow. But once again Shane only smiled at him and said goodnight, not offering any contact, which made Reed feel relieved.

Once in the bathroom, he was feeling extremely nervous. He was about to see what he looked like at twenty-four for the first time. He could tell just from walking he had barely grown at all. And that irritated the crap out of him.

He finally took a deep breath and looked into the mirror.

To be honest, he didn't look that different. His face looked more refined, and his structure was more developed but that was about it. He wasn't looking at any of that though. He looked pretty terrible. There was a trace of a bruise underneath his left eye and a long, purple scar from his temple to his hair line, right over his left eyebrow.

He gasped and brought a hand up to touch it. He could barely make out tinier scars around it, but this was the worst.

Not only was he marred, but he looked extremely tired and his hair was bigger than he remembered. But with laying on it so much, it looked flat and frizzy. He had to fix this, never mind how he could _still _pass as a fourteen year old. But that fact did piss him off.

He started digging in the burberry case, seeing what was inside for the first time. He really didn't pay attention when Kurt went through it earlier.

He was pleasantly surprised. He could/already did use all of these products.

First his coffee order and now this. He was a still a little surprised to see that Shane knew him so well when he didn't know Shane at all.


End file.
